This invention relates generally to holder devices for securement to the walls of a vehicle or boat, and more particularly to devices which can be readily manufactured at low cost, and installed with a minimum of effort in an existing structure.
Numerous arangements for holding glass bottles, metal cans, cups, etc. and other containers have been proposed, and have met with varying degrees of success. Prior beverage container holders have incorporated cup-like plastic casings constituted of polyethylene or other relatively rigid plastic material, or metal, and were provided with supporting arms or brackets by which they could be cemented in place on, or otherwise adhered to, a vertical wall of a vehicle or boat. In addition, over the past few years a number of devices have been manufactured which incorporate multiple pivot mountings for a cup-like holder, such that the latter would remain in a substantially vertical or upright position even as the vehicle or boat keeled. Such arrangements seemed to operate in a generally satisfactory manner as far as their intended purpose was concerned, that being to minimize the likelihood of the liquid in an open vessel being inadvertently spilled.
In almost all of the prior devices heretofore known, several disadvantages became apparent. In the holder of the multiple-pivot type, the manufacture involved a number of separate parts which had to be molded independently of one another and thereafter assembled, this resulting in increased manufacturing expense. Some of these devices tended to be fragile, and were prone to breakage or malfunction if they were accidentally jarred, or bumped by occupants of the automobile or boat. In addition, there was a tendency for ropes or lines to snag on the holder, or become fouled or entangled therewith, particularly the under surfaces thereof. In the event that such holders were inadvertently used as a perch or step, they often were torn off the mounting surface, or else became broken or otherwise disfigured.
Also, there was typically made no provision for accommodating containers of slightly different size. Instead, the general approach was to make the opening of the holder sufficiently large to receive the largest of the containers with which the holder was intended to be used; smaller containers could be accommodated, but there resulted a relatively loose or sloppy fit. Such installations were somewhat less than satisfactory for smaller bottles, since they tended to shift position in the holder in response to bumps experienced by the automobile or keeling of the boat.